first thoughts on Apogee Rosetta AD on Motu 828 BLA mod

[earworm]

ok here we go,

this year i had my Motu 828 MK1 modded by Black lion audio,
the analog stage only. The sound DID improve big time, its not the same soundcard anymore.

Today my Rosetta AD 48khz24bit arrived,

i did AB tests with music like Tool, some jazz, dubstep

and there is a BIG difference when the motu is clocked to the rosetta!

the highs are SO much clearer, not crisp at all , but just beautiful!
Also the bottom end feels like if its a mist of lowend that floats between my speakers. Listening to "Tool - the grudge" now and the toms sound amazing, at low volume i can feel the air move when the drummer hits the skins...

WONDERFUL

this morning i woke up on the floor in my livingroom, on a pillow,
DINGDONG, the doorbell, i knew it was my Rosetta so i jumped up in my boxershorts and messy hair. The dude was french so didnt understand me, took me two minutes before i noticed that. Then i had to let him wait cause i didn't have the 150euro import tax, the bank is at 20 meters of my front door but i couldn't find my wallet in this chaotic mess.. the guy lurked in my living room and his jaws fell open...hehehe... Piles of audio equipment piled up, big pillows everywhere cause i kinda live on the floor (untill my mixingdesk-desk is ready)...

Had to screw the thing open to switch it to 220volt, i love equipment that can be used worldwide.


Now i have a question for you all,

the quality of all my music is better now, it SOUNDS better,
but is that only on my computer then? if i mix a song WITH the apogee clock and one with my motu clock and give it to my brother, will he hear a difference? Does it change the way i export my mixdown from DAW to harddisk? Or is it formyearsonly and is it nothing more than a helptool to mix better?

cheers

smiling J

 

[tmix]

I am a little confused about how you would mix down with the clock and converter unless you are mixing through a mixer to a stand alone device.
But on the other hand:

You now have better (cleaner / clearer) raw tracks when you track with them.
You should be able to retain much more of the increased quality when you mix (in the box or out) by monitoring through the better converters to your speakers, thus translating to a better sounding file to send others.

Good luck with your new toys, they are of excellent quality.

 

[jonnyc]

The apogee won't magically make your mixes sound better. What it will allow you to do is hear more of what's going on which should in theory lead you to a better overall mix. So if you couldn't hear the uppermids, for example, very clearly and now you can you should be able to mix them more accurately which leads to a better overall mix. Now that's all DA if you also have AD the difference would be apparent next time you track using those converters instead of the motu ones.

 

[kojdogg]

if you used outboard analog summing, you could take some advantage of the improved converters and clock-- you could use all of the channels except two and use busses or stems sent out to a analog summing unit (or maybe even some of the naiant mix-4 cables) and back into the two unused channels on your interface.